Neural Therapy-
our way of 'hacking' the autonomic nervous system
Quick quiz- what one type of organ in your body has physical connections to every single muscle fiber, internal organ and hormone-secreting cell? The nervous system! The nervous system is our body's telephone wires, transferring the information from the brain to every cell, from cells to the brain, and between many, many different organs and regions.
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The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) can be though of as the part of your nervous system that functions automatically. For example, you can tell your legs to walk, but you don't tell your heart exactly how fast to beat, or your intestines when you push food down and when to digest proteins. The ANS does that. And good thing too, that would just be too much to keep track of.
Neural therapy involves the injection of a local anesthetic such as procaine into scars, trigger points, tendon and ligament insertions, peripheral nerves, autonomic ganglia, the epidural space, and other tissues to treat chronic pain and illness. It uses the ANS connection between the skin and other soft tissue to relay the therapy into deeper regions that are on the same nerve branch. [See this great article on the Naturopathic integrative use of neural therapy by Dr. Harris]
Like dropping a stone in water, with a superficial (skin) injection, first the local area is affected, then there is a ripple effect to the sympathetic nerves (which innervate that skin), then via reflex connection to the other regions in that same "pond" (sympathetic nervous branch).
[for more, see the American Association of Orthopedic Medicine's site- Dr. Angela is a member of this organization]
The practice of neural therapy comes from Germany and is based on the belief that energy flows freely through the body, mostly using the ANS as its freeways. It is proposed that injury, disease, malnutrition, stress, and scar tissue disrupt this flow, creating disturbances in the electrochemical function of tissues and energy imbalances called “interference fields.”
(afterall, the nervous system only works because of electrochemical gradients- we are electrochemical beings)
Injection of a local anesthetic is believed to reestablish the normal resting potential of nerves and flow of energy. It is basically a rebooting of the system, using our electrophysiology as the medium. The specific use of procaine serves additional anti-inflammatory and neurological healing "side effects."
There is a strong focus on treatment of the autonomic nervous system, and injections may be given at a location other than the source of the pain or location of an injury. Neural therapy is promoted mainly to relieve chronic pain. It has also been proposed to be helpful for headaches, post-concussion syndrome, post-whiplash, neck pain, back pain, arthritis, asthma, chronic bowel problems, sports or other physical/muscle injuries, gallbladder, heart, kidney, or liver dysfunctions, menstrual cramps, and skin and circulation problems.
But what does it look like? What is the experience like?
There is often multiple small injections made just below the surface of the skin, working within a specific neurological branch. The injections can feel stingy or painful for a minute (we do have quite a lot of nerve endings in our skin, which all pick up the injection signal at the same time), which quickly resolves and beneficial effects are often noted within 24 to 48 hours. Depending on the imbalance/disorder treated, a single treatment may provide adequate results, or a short series may be indicated for more extensive or chronic concerns. Usually the benefits noted are cumulative and often very long lasting (a third session may show benefits for months or a year or longer).
How about insurance coverage?
As far as we're aware, insurance plans are mostly considering this treatment experimental/ investigational and are not covering it. Although this has been a standard therapy in Germany since the early 20th century, American publications and general acceptance is not quite there. Since there are relatively few practitioners doing neural therapy in this country, there is much less knowledge and awareness here. Insurance companies follow what conventional medicine adopts as standards of care, stemming from English-language articles published by our well-known journals.
What this means is that neural therapy is a not-covered service, even if it is beneficial. That being said, it may be bundled at an appointment into other covered services (scar or trigger point injection therapy for example) and thus would be included without additional patient costs. Discuss this with Dr. Angela at your appointment for more details specific to your case.
Neural therapy involves the injection of a local anesthetic such as procaine into scars, trigger points, tendon and ligament insertions, peripheral nerves, autonomic ganglia, the epidural space, and other tissues to treat chronic pain and illness. It uses the ANS connection between the skin and other soft tissue to relay the therapy into deeper regions that are on the same nerve branch. [See this great article on the Naturopathic integrative use of neural therapy by Dr. Harris]
Like dropping a stone in water, with a superficial (skin) injection, first the local area is affected, then there is a ripple effect to the sympathetic nerves (which innervate that skin), then via reflex connection to the other regions in that same "pond" (sympathetic nervous branch).
[for more, see the American Association of Orthopedic Medicine's site- Dr. Angela is a member of this organization]
The practice of neural therapy comes from Germany and is based on the belief that energy flows freely through the body, mostly using the ANS as its freeways. It is proposed that injury, disease, malnutrition, stress, and scar tissue disrupt this flow, creating disturbances in the electrochemical function of tissues and energy imbalances called “interference fields.”
(afterall, the nervous system only works because of electrochemical gradients- we are electrochemical beings)
Injection of a local anesthetic is believed to reestablish the normal resting potential of nerves and flow of energy. It is basically a rebooting of the system, using our electrophysiology as the medium. The specific use of procaine serves additional anti-inflammatory and neurological healing "side effects."
There is a strong focus on treatment of the autonomic nervous system, and injections may be given at a location other than the source of the pain or location of an injury. Neural therapy is promoted mainly to relieve chronic pain. It has also been proposed to be helpful for headaches, post-concussion syndrome, post-whiplash, neck pain, back pain, arthritis, asthma, chronic bowel problems, sports or other physical/muscle injuries, gallbladder, heart, kidney, or liver dysfunctions, menstrual cramps, and skin and circulation problems.
But what does it look like? What is the experience like?
There is often multiple small injections made just below the surface of the skin, working within a specific neurological branch. The injections can feel stingy or painful for a minute (we do have quite a lot of nerve endings in our skin, which all pick up the injection signal at the same time), which quickly resolves and beneficial effects are often noted within 24 to 48 hours. Depending on the imbalance/disorder treated, a single treatment may provide adequate results, or a short series may be indicated for more extensive or chronic concerns. Usually the benefits noted are cumulative and often very long lasting (a third session may show benefits for months or a year or longer).
How about insurance coverage?
As far as we're aware, insurance plans are mostly considering this treatment experimental/ investigational and are not covering it. Although this has been a standard therapy in Germany since the early 20th century, American publications and general acceptance is not quite there. Since there are relatively few practitioners doing neural therapy in this country, there is much less knowledge and awareness here. Insurance companies follow what conventional medicine adopts as standards of care, stemming from English-language articles published by our well-known journals.
What this means is that neural therapy is a not-covered service, even if it is beneficial. That being said, it may be bundled at an appointment into other covered services (scar or trigger point injection therapy for example) and thus would be included without additional patient costs. Discuss this with Dr. Angela at your appointment for more details specific to your case.